The Clinton administration is declaring the Mexican spotted owl a threatened species - which may launch a war in southern Utah and neighboring states similar to battles over the northern spotted owl in the Northwest.
"It could be as dramatic a change in tying up southern Utah as any wilderness bill," says Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Utah. He worries protecting owl habitat could close off timber harvests, mining, road-building and maybe even hunting and fishing in some areas.But Ken Rait, issues coordinator for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, says, "Claims by doomsayers are based on emotion rather than fact." He predicts impacts on Utah timber would be minimal and impacts on most recreational activities virtually nonexistent.
Randy Tweten, a biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said either spectrum of activities described by Hansen and Rait is possible under the Endangered Species Act but expects impacts to be relatively light in Utah - but more controversial in Arizona and New Mexico, where more owls live.
The Mexican spotted owl lives primarily in forest areas from central Utah and Colorado south through New Mexico, Arizona and part of Texas. However, in Utah, it is often found along sandstone canyons.
The Fish and Wildlife Service estimates 2,160 Mexican spotted owls remain in the United States. Since 1988, Tweten said 26 pairs and 19 individual owls have been spotted in Utah - mainly in Zion, Capitol Reef and Canyonlands national parks.
But he said historical sightings have occurred throughout southern Utah in such places as the Book Cliffs, the LaSal Mountains, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and the Escalante canyons region.
The bird is a subspecies of owl closely related to the northern spotted owl, which caused wars between loggers and environmentalists in the Northwest over whether logging should be prevented in old-growth forests to help save it.
Hansen is vowing a fight to ensure that the listing and protection schemes that will result from it will not hurt southern Utah's economy.
"The Endangered Species Act was written to protect major species like the bald eagle and the grizzly bear. Now we are trying to protect all subspecies, regardless the impact on humans," he said.
He plans to reintroduce next week a bill that would require the Fish and Wildlife Service to consider the economic impact on humans and not just owls when developing plans to protect threatened and endangered species. The service said Thursday it already plans to consider such impacts in its plans.
Hansen - whose district includes much of the area that could be affected - said he worries such listings often close down logging, mining, road-building and other activities requiring federal permits to help protect the habitat of such species.
"It could even affect hunting and fishing," he said. "Anything that disturbs the habitat on federal lands could be prevented."
Rait doubted such drastic steps. "Most of the areas where the Mexican spotted owl has been seen in Utah are in places like Zion and Capitol Reef national parks, where there already are no commercial activities."
He added, "The timber aspect is a much larger component in Arizona and New Mexico. . . . The owls do not occupy timber stands in Utah generally suitable for logging, and rather occupy deep sandstone canyons."
Rait did say the listing (which would become effective 30 days after a planned notice in the Federal Register on Monday) might help kill a proposed Book Cliffs road between Ouray and Cisco, which Rait said may already have been killed by economic and political problems.
Bill Simmons, an aide to Hansen, disagreed. "No recent sightings have occurred in the Book Cliffs. It is not reasonable to declare all areas of historical sightings as critical habitat, only the areas where owls have been seen recently."
Other member of the Utah delegation say they'll watch the situation closely.
Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, said Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt recently told him he wanted to defuse problems from the Endangered Species Act before they reached "the (northern) spotted owl level." He said, "I hope he meant it, and that he will meet and work with us on these problems."
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Hawk help sought
Another raptor found in U tah made news Friday. Danny Quintana, spokesman for Goshute Indian Tribe, announced that tribe members are concerned about threats to the survival of the Ferruginous hawk.
They are calling for restriction on vehicles in "all traditional tribal lands" from March 1 to July 15 each year to protect the bird. Vehicles would be prohibited in nesting areas during that period.
Quintana said the tribe wants this largest North American hawk to be removed from the list of birds that can be used by falconers and say a long-term study should be conducted on its status.